Search

Terrein is a fungal metabolite and has been known to exert anti-melanogenesis, anti-cancer, and anti-bacterial activities. However, its role in endotoxemia has never been investigated until now. In the present study, we examined the effect of terrein on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia in mice and characterized the potential mechanisms of action. Treatment with terrein increased the survival of mice and decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in an LPS-induced endotoxemia model. In addition, terrein suppressed the LPS-induced production of IL-1β and IL-6 in RAW 264.7 cells, a murine macrophage-like cell line, and the mRNA expression of IL-1β and IL-6 was also inhibited by terrein in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Further study demonstrated that terrein blocked LPS-induced phosphorylation of p65 subunit of nuclear factor (NF)/κB and the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was also suppressed by terrein treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that terrein exerts a protective effect again LPS-induced endotoxemia in mice by blocking the production of inflammatory cytokines. Our results also suggest that the anti-inflammatory effect of terrein might be mediated, at least in part, by blocking the activation of NF-κB, JNK, and p38 MAPK signaling pathways.

Recent studies have reported that small double-strand RNAs (dsRNAs) can activate endogenous genes via an RNA-based promoter targeting mechanism termed RNA activation (RNAa). In the present study, we showed that dsVDUP1-834, a novel small activating RNA (saRNA) targeting promoter of vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) gene, up-regulated expression of VDUP1 at both mRNA and protein levels in A549 lung cancer cells. We also demonstrated that dsVDUP1-834 inhibited cell proliferation in A549 lung cancer cells. Further studies showed that dsVDUP1-834 induced cell-cycle arrest by increasing p27 and p53 and decreasing cyclin A and cyclin B1. In addition, knockdown of VDUP1 abrogated dsVDUP1-834-induced up-regulation of VDUP1 gene expression and related effects. The activation of VDUP1 by dsVDUP1-834 was accompanied by an increase in dimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me2) and acetylation of histone 3 (H3ac) and a decrease in dimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me2) at the target site of VDUP1 promoter. Moreover, the enrichment of Ago2 was detected at the dsVDUP1-834 target site, and Ago2 knockdown significantly suppressed dsVDUP1-834-mediated inhibition of cell proliferation and modulation of cell-cycle regulators. Taken together, the results presented in this report demonstrate that dsVDUP1-834 induces VDUP1 gene expression by epigenetic changes, resulting in cell growth inhibition and cell-cycle arrest. Our results suggest that targeted induction of VDUP1 by dsVDUP1-834 might be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.

Jack-up barge, one of the representative special vessels for installation and maintenance of offshore structures such as offshore plants, offshore facilities, and offshore renewable energy systems, secures the work stability of barge using mechanical holding force developed from leg or spud which is mounted on seabed. Lifting apparatus for jacket-up barge is the key equipment to maintain the holding force as well as to mount and to move the spud on the seabed under an extreme marine environment. Typical lifting apparatus types for offshore installation and maintenance are known as hydraulic pin type and rack-pinion. Recently, a new type of structural design has been devised to improve the holding power of lifting apparatus. Design uncertainty can exist in case that the evaluation of structural performance of such new type of lifting apparatus is carried out only by standard design guidance such as classification rules. In this study, structural safety assessment was performed for a new concept multi-ball holding clamp type lifting apparatus with 900ton class holding capacity which was developed to improve the holding power. The evaluation of the structural strength performance was carried out by using the loading conditions which combine the mechanical loads of the operating cylinders with design load conditions for the deck lifting device of the mobile offshore structure specified by the classification rule. A three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) model was generated, and the analysis results of the structural stress and deformation were compared to the allowable stresses recommended by the classification rule.

Multidrug resistance mediated by the drug efflux protein, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), is one of the principal mechanisms by which tumor cells escape the cell death induced by chemotherapeutic agents. In our previous study, we demonstrated that KBH-A42 [N-hydroxy-3-(2-oxo-1-(3-phenylpropyl)-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-3-yl)propanamide], a synthetic histone deacetylase inhibitor, effectively inhibited the growth of several human cancer cell lines. In this study, we attempted to determine whether KBH-A42 was also capable of inhibiting the growth of multidrug-resistant cells. Doxorubicin dose-dependently inhibited the growth of P-gp-negative K562 human leukemia cells, but did not show substantial inhibition on the growth of P-gp-positive K562/ADR cells even at 10 microM, the highest concentration of KBH-A42 used, which increased the acetylation of histones in these leukemia cells, dose-dependently and effectively inhibited the cell growth, regardless of the presence of P-gp in the cells. KBH-A42 mediated G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, probably as the result of the down-regulation of CDK2, CDK4 and CDK6 and the up-regulation of p21WAF1. When the expression of p21WAF1 was ablated by a specific siRNA, the inhibition of cell growth by KBH-A42 was partly reduced in both cell lines. In addition to the cell cycle arrest, KBH-A42 also induced apoptosis in these cells, which was accompanied by the activation of caspases, including caspase-9, caspase-8 and caspase-3. The pan-caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD-fmk, partially blocked the cell death induced by KBH-A42. These results indicate that KBH-A42 induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis via the up-regulation of p21WAF1 and caspase activation, respectively, regardless of the presence of P-gp in the leukemia cells.